Astros 5, Cardinals 4: Bullpen slams the door shut in late innings

As the night gets later, the Astros pitching gets better, and that’s what happened again in their fourth straight win, a 5-4 victory over the defending champion Cardinals.

A game that was 5-4 with one out in the top of the third inning on the strength of a Jose Altuve three-run home run stayed exactly that way for the next two hours.

The bullpen, which came into the game fourth in the National League with a 3.13 ERA, held the league’s best offense scoreless for 3 2/3 innings. Closer Brett Myers, who has been the best arm out of the bullpen this year, used a 4-6-3 double play to work around a leadoff single and lower his ERA to 1.04.

There were few other tense moments against the quartet of Wesley Wright, Wilton Lopez, Fernando Rodriguez and Myers, the biggest cheers following the boos that engulfed Carlos Beltran’s pinch flyout in the eighth against Rodriguez. But it followed a shaky start from Lucas Harrell, who went 5 1/3 innings and allowed four runs, three of which were earned.

That’s been the story of the season, an effective bullpen doing what it can on the heels of an inconsistent rotation, which entered the day 12th in the league with a 4.28 ERA.

The result was 12 straight zeroes on the scoreboard after the teams scored in their first five half-innings.

After a Chris Johnson throwing error plated the Cardinals’ first run, Carlos Lee and the scorching Jed Lowrie singled home a run apiece in the bottom of the first. Then when the Cardinals tied it on Lucas Harrell’s second balk of the season, it became the Alutve show, coincidentally on the night when All-Star balloting began in the home ballpark of the league’s top second baseman to date.

This was no wall-scraper like his first home run of the season, this cleared the wall of the Crawford Boxes by plenty, following a Harrell single and an error that allowed Schafer to reach.

Harrell would give up two more runs in the third as the Cardinals pulled within a run, but thanks to the bullpen, even with plenty of night left, that was as close as they’d get.

Astros 5, Cardinals 4

Tipping point: When Wesley Wright came in to relieve Lucas Harrell with two on in the sixth, Mike Matheny countered with a righty pinch-hitter, but Wright got Shane Robinson to pop up and Rafael Furcal to ground out to begin the 3 2/3 scoreless innings by the bullpen.

On the mound: Harrell said he knocked the wind out of himself with a dive for the ball and should have taken a minute to compose himself but instead gave up two runs in the third. His last two full innings were his best, avoiding what could have been a short night.

At the plate: The Astros had a good effort against Kyle Lohse, who entered as one of the top arms in the National League with a 1.62 ERA. Lohse threw 99 pitches, and the Astros had only three swing-and-misses, scoring five runs in Lohse’s five innings.

Under the radar: Not a lot of teams go 3-for-3 stealing against Cardinals standout catcher Yadier Molina, but Jordan Schafer and Jose Altuve were safe on a double-steal in the first, and Schafer went solo in the eighth.